Effects of computer-based educational achievement test on test performance and test takers’ motivation

There has been an increasing interest in recent years in developing and using computer-based tests in educational assessment. To replace paper-based tests with computer-based ones, the standards for developing computerized-assessment (International Test Commission., 2004) requires equivalent test scores to be established for the new computer-based test and the conventional paper-based test. However, in most test mode comparability studies, the actual test items used have been identical, and yet significant differences have been found in test scores in paper-based and computer-based modes. This has been reported for several subjects, including science, languages and mathematics. The validity of using computer-based tests in educational assessment must therefore be questioned. This study involves a biology test and a biology motivation questionnaire using a Solomon four-group experimental design to examine the validity of the computer-based test and its effects on test performance and the motivation of test-takers. The findings provide supportive evidence for the validity of computer-based test in educational assessment.     

A study of Facebook Groups members’ knowledge sharing

There have been many studies focusing on individuals’ knowledge sharing behavior in the organizational setting. With the rapid prevalence of social networking sites, many people began to express their thoughts or share their knowledge via Facebook website. Facebook is an open environment which does not provide any immediate monetary benefits to its users. Its Groups members’ knowledge sharing behavior could be different from the ones in organizations. We proposed a research model to examine factors which promote the Facebook Groups users’ willingness to share knowledge. The factors in the study include extrinsic motivation, social and psychological forces, and social networking sharing culture. We used PLS to test our proposed hypotheses based on 271 responses collected through an online survey. Our results indicated that reputation would affect knowledge sharing attitude of Groups members and sense of self-worth would directly and indirectly (through subjective norm) affect the attitude. In addition, social networking sharing culture (fairness, identification, and openness) is the most significant factor, not only directly affecting knowledge sharing intention, but also indirectly influencing the sharing intention through subjective norm and knowledge sharing attitude.     

Why seeking help from teammates is a blessing and a curse: A theory of help seeking and individual creativity in team contexts.

Research has not explored the extent to which seeking help from teammates positively relates to a person's own creativity. This question is important to explore as help seeking is commonly enacted in organizations and may come with reciprocation costs that may also diminish creativity. Results based on 291 employees in a single division of a large multinational organization revealed that seeking help predicted creativity and mediated the relationship between intrinsic motivation and creativity. However, help seekers also incurred reciprocation costs in that they tended to give more help to teammates, and giving help to teammates was negatively related to creativity. In general, giving higher levels of help attenuated the positive relationship between help seeking and creativity. We also tested an integrated model to show that help giving moderated the mediated relationship between intrinsic motivation and creativity via help seeking, such that higher levels of help giving attenuated this mediated effect. We discuss theoretical and practical implications recommending additional research regarding the interpersonal creative process in team contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

大学生功利性入党动机探析

当前大学生"入党热"中存在部分大学生入党动机功利化的问题,为有效解决这一问题,对大学生功利性入党动机的主要表现、危害、成因及纠正途径进行了探析。     

Cognitive preoccupation with alcohol and binge drinking in college students: Alcohol-induced priming of the motivation to drink.

This research examined alcohol-induced motivation to drink as a factor that contributes to preoccupation with drinking. Forty undergraduates rated their degree of preoccupation with drinking. The author determined the relationship between the undergraduates' preoccupation and the degree to which alcohol primed their motivation to drink by having them rate their desire for alcohol after they consumed a dose of alcohol or a placebo. Results showed that individual differences in preoccupation were predicted by the priming effects displayed after alcohol was consumed. More preoccupied individuals reported greater priming effects. Priming effects following placebo were minimal and were not related to preoccupation. The research shows that reinforcing effects of alcohol may contribute to cognitive preoccupation with drinking and promote patterns of alcohol abuse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Addressees of performance goals.

As performance goals aim to both procure acknowledgment of one's abilities and to avoid revealing a lack of one's abilities, the authors hypothesized that students hold specific performance goals for different addressees and that there are specific correlational patterns with other motivational constructs. They analyzed a data set of 2,675 pupils (1,248 boys and 1,426 girls) attending Grades 8 and 9 (mean age=15.0, SD=0.97). The students completed a questionnaire consisting of 12 items measuring performance approach goals and 12 items measuring performance avoidance goals. In each subset, 4 groups of addressees were differentiated: parents, teachers, peers, and the acting individual him/herself. Additionally, several external criteria were measured. The authors concurrently tested theory-driven, structural equation models. Incorporating all 24 items, the best-fitting model was a multitrait-multimethod model, which posited 2 factors for approach and avoidance goals and 4 addressee factors. While performance goals addressing parents showed relationships to maladaptive motivational and learning patterns, performance goals addressing classmates and self showed relationships to adaptive motivational and learning patterns. The relationships between performance goals addressing teachers and external criteria were rather weak and unsystematic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivation, affect, and hemispheric asymmetry: Power versus affiliation.

In 4 experiments, the authors examined to what extent information related to different social needs (i.e., power vs. affiliation) is associated with hemispheric laterality. Response latencies to a lateralized dot-probe task following lateralized pictures or verbal labels that were associated with positive or negative episodes related to power, affiliation, or achievement revealed clear-cut laterality effects. These effects were a function of need content rather than of valence: Power-related stimuli were associated with right visual field (left hemisphere) superiority, whereas affiliation-related stimuli were associated with left visual field (right hemisphere) superiority. Additional results demonstrated that in contrast to power, affiliation primes were associated with better discrimination between coherent word triads (e.g., goat, pass, and green, all related to mountain) and noncoherent triads, a remote associate task known to activate areas of the right hemisphere. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of a scale for fantasy state in digital games

Digital games appear to motivate players intrinsically. Of various game features, fantasy in particularly plays a crucial role in enhancing motivation and is a key factor in immersion in gameplay. As with its inherent value, fantasy also plays a vital role in distinguishing digital games itself from other media. Despite its significance, fantasy has received little attention, and this concept is still ambiguous to define with any certainty. This study thus aims to create a framework to explore a dimension of fantasy and to develop a scale to measure a state of fantasy in digital games. As a result, four factors were extracted, which were ‘identification’, ‘imagination’, ‘analogy’, and ‘satisfaction’, to account for fantasy state in digital gameplay. Based on these factors, a fantasy scale in digital games (FSDGs) included 16 items was developed.     

Multidimensional assessment of perceived treatment-entry pressures among substance abusers.

Motivational assessment instruments typically measure clients' attributions about their readiness to change problem behaviors. They do not indicate why a client may be motivated to change, or provide guidance on how to retain an unmotivated client in treatment. The authors interviewed 415 substance abuse clients about their reasons for entering treatment and scored their responses along the dimensions of (a) negative versus positive treatment-entry pressures, (b) internal versus external sources of those pressures, and (c) the life domain from which the pressures emanated. Exploratory cluster analysis yielded 5 types of clients characterized by different profiles of perceived treatment-entry pressures. Cluster membership was predictive of treatment outcomes, and the clusters differed by demographic variables. These data support the discriminative and predictive utility of performing a multidimensional assessment of pressures to enter treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivational reserve: Lifetime motivational abilities contribute to cognitive and emotional health in old age.

The authors recently developed the concept of motivational reserve, which implies a set of motivational abilities that provide individuals with resilience to neuropathological damage. This study investigated how lifetime motivational abilities are associated with current cognitive status, mild cognitive impairment, and psychological well-being in old age. A community sample of 147 participants without dementia between 60 and 94 years of age, stratified for age group, sex, and education, completed motivation and well-being questionnaires and cognitive tests. A new procedure was used to estimate their midlife motivational and cognitive abilities on the basis of their main occupation using the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) system. O*NET-estimated motivational abilities predicted cognitive status, psychological well-being, and odds of mild cognitive impairment, even when age, sex, education, and cognitive ability were controlled. Although O*NET-estimated cognitive abilities were not significant predictors, scores on a measure of crystallized intelligence were associated with current cognitive status and odds of mild cognitive impairment. Findings suggest that motivational reserve acts as a protective factor against the manifestation of cognitive impairment and emotional problems in later life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)